By Alabama Public Radio
Alabama – Monday May 15th marks the deadline for those who want to sign up for the new Medicare Drug benefit program. Public health officials are trying to encourage a last minute rush of enrollees, who can sign up at a public health fair, by telephone or online. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt plans to visit 24 cities before the Monday deadline to promote the enrollment effort. Nearly 43 million people are eligible to sign up for drug coverage through Medicare. As many as 150-thousand of Alabama's senior citizens are eligible, but have not yet signed up. Statewide, there have been more than 600-thousand enrollments since the plan was offered last November.